#i don't think people realize that the dance is a tragedy

[navree]

To say that Rhaenyra died a dragons's rider death is just coping atp , does that means people in riverlands and kingslanding died a dragons's rider death? The slavers in essos died a dragons's rider death? It's screams coping and seething because rhaenyra turned into a literal dragon's poop ..

It's absolute hardcore cope to try and make her death seem more epic than it is, which is dumb because that's kind of the point? Her death isn't grand and glorious and this amazing moment of dragonrider triumph (she did not fly Syrax once in the entire war she did Nothing it's literally confirmed canon that Syrax hadn't even done so much as hunt for herself in years by the time the Dance started she was incredibly useless), because nothing about this war was grand and glorious. It was an ignominious, ugly, and painful way to die, in front of her own son, because this war was an ugly thing. Like, this war was a bad thing for House Targaryen; no one won and nobody came out of it unscathed and the entire family was weaker from that point onward until Aerys dealt the death blow by being The Worst. The only person who has a maybe cathartic death in the entire Dance is Daemon, and that's a strong maybe, every other character has one that feels unfair.

Laena had her thing about wanting a dragon rider's death in order to foreshadow the unfairness of her own situation, and she chose self immolation via Vhagar because it was either that or death by childbirth anyway, she was caught between a rock and hard place and at least chose to have a dragon involved. Not to mention that she chose it, Rhaenyra certainly didn't choose how she died. Random people getting torched by dragonfire isn't the same as a dragon reader deciding that, if she's Got to die now, she's going to die on her own terms with her dragon at least partially involved. It's hardcore cope and it's missing the literal point of this entire sad saga.

[jiminsass-istant]

SMERALDO GARDEN MARCHING BAND : NOT JUST A FUN SONG

One thing you can expect before listening to any Jimin song for the first time is that NO TWO SONGS WILL EVER BE THE SAME.

Naturally I had too many questions when I watched the SGMB Track video!

Face was about inner reflection and tragedy, while MUSE is apparently about Jimin's artistic inspiration. Since the entire Muse album is not out yet, I kept wondering how SGMB fit into the 'artistic inspiration' concept. What do we learn about Jimin in SGMB? But most importantly, who is Jimin's muse?

********************************************************************

To answer, let's look at Jimin's intents. I divided them into 2 parts:

"Tell things we/he couldn't before"

A recurring thing we have seen in chapter 2 Jimin is his desire to "tell everything he couldn't before", and this started right from 2022 Festa dinner:

True to his words, he started being more honest and telling us his story in Face. That's how we knew he had already started expressing more truth than he ever had before. Not only that, in the BTS documentary, Jimin even opened up about his depression while dining with JK.

But was that ALL he had to say? NO! Because he says this in Closer Than this which was released in dec 2023 ->

Since CTT is clearly a fan song, he is addressing fans here when he says that he wants to reveal everything to his fans. Going by the bangtan lore, I think we can safely conclude that here 'spring day' for bts refers to the day they are reunited with their fans again (2025), that is - post military. Meaning, Jimin will keep revealing things through his music well after MS is over.

A wonderful army pointed out that the english lyrics of SGMB are not entirely correct. The line "I'll tell you everything now" should actually be "i'll reveal everything on your behalf", which brings us to Jimin's second intent-

2) "The truth untold"

The BTS unit song TTU speaks about how the protagonist is unable to confess their feelings to their love because they consider themselves ugly and unworthy (due to lack of self-love).

In the first teaser for Muse, Jimin found the music sheet for The Truth Untold inside the purple lockers. And then he releases SGMB which is basically the positive (and happy future) version of TTU.

The twitter thread i referred to previously explains this very well and all of you should read it:

Let's now look at some of my personal observations in the MV before i put on my delulu cape.

Jimin's showmanship:

Jimin is basically a host, a presenter, cupid, and the lead of Smeraldo Garden marching band. It's like he entered the Smeraldo garden of thorns and despair along with his band to help the protagonist reveal their true feelings to their loved one. The garden is now lively with all positive elements- dance, kids, butterflies, bubbles, confetti. It showcases Jimin's change in attitude and how he has truly begun to love himself. That's why when Jimin says :

" Ooh, I love you babe I'll come closer to you I love you, babe (Yes, sir) Ooh, I want you, babe I wanna hold your hand I want you, babe"

He's saying this on behalf of the protagonist. That's what Smeraldo Garden Marching Band does- it helps people in despair, helps them to express love.

2) Jimin is NOT homophobic!

People really used the scene of Jimin separating the sapphic couple as him being anti-gay. Let me show you the scenes where Jimin took the flower from a guy. Look at the guy's stance, look at the lyrics. The correct translation for the lyrics in the image is " the truth untold". He is indeed referring to a hidden truth in this particular scene, 'hidden' being the keyword here, which i'm sure the lgbtq+ community is more than familiar with.

To realize the importance of this scene, just go to any reactor and see their face when they see Jimin accepting a flower from a man. They hold their breath only to release it when they see him playing matchmaker to hetero couples. Don't you just love Jimin's brain? lol.

Let's look at the 2nd scene of Jimin giving a flower to another man-

Again, Jimin is bowing down this time, while the adlibs go "just for you". Jimin is not just being a 'wingman' here as some might think- a wingman doesn't 'present' flowers like this. He is subtle and this is him recognizing all sorts of relationships.

3) The sunflowers face the viewer, not Jimin or his band. The sunflowers face the...SUN. I think I am starting to wear the delulu cape here (yes i mean cape and not cap). We all know from Jimin's innumerable moon references that he associates himself with the moon, not the sun. The sun tattoo haver has always been the sun from the sun-and-moon duo. Just like the moon tattoo haver is the moon of the duo.

So this whole time Jimin has been talking to the protagonist of TTU- is it Jungk-

NO NO WAIT! Didn't Jimin just sing -

"Since we're together now"..together as in...

("Yes Sir!")🤷‍♀️

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we clarify last time that being 'together' means 'dating' in Korean, as in most other languages of this world?! Ahem.

Look like someone is getting 'serenaded' as in 'serenade' version of Muse.

*sighs very loudly*

Disclaimer: Just because i made a jikook interpretation of the song doesn't mean i don't recognize and agree with non-shipping interpretations. *sigh*

Anyway, there is another interpretation of SGMB by andy-wm. I really loved the pantomime comparison:

And another by jimin-bangtan:

Trust that if Jikook make 'yes sir' jokes in the travel series, I'm gonna lose it. Just a little bit.

I cannot wait for the rest of the album! These are all love songs. We are getting happy-sappy Jimin you all ! The Jimin who went through so many struggles is finally loving himself and has learnt to be happy with his loved ones.

[fkapommel]

A Rant about Bridgerton s3 from a person who doesn't care about Bridgerton

I'm just a hater who is an optimist at heart. On Polin, the Mondrich's, Michaela Stirling, and Cressida.

I haven't read the Bridgerton books, and I don't believe there is any validity to a "but this isn't book accurate!" argument because Bridgerton the Show was marketed as a diverse, representational adaptation that liked the bones of Quinn's idea but made something better. And I, a lay person, have never seen as much virtroil and hatred towards the showrunners as I have seen this season using that exact argument that has never been uttered before because, near unanimously, all fans agreed that the showrunners were making a better story that 90s Quinn ever could. So many people, readers and non-readers alike, were disappointed with the handling of this season.

Peneolope and Colin

Polin was ignored during THEIR season for conventionally "pretty" and "thin" romances. There was zero character growth for either Penelope or Colin individually and as a couple in their own season. We are never shown why Colin loves Peneolope or why he has grown to appreciate her Whistledown project beyond dialogue - "I've learned that they are both you" what the hell does that even mean. Most of the season is spent with them physically apart making dumb faces at each other at dances with no cinemagraphric tension being built - few body closeups, boring musical cues, meaningless and repetitive body/facial choreography (I'm looking at you, open-mouthed contoured Colin) - when all this and more were utilized successfully in Anthony and Kate's season. People were thirsty as fuck to watch a white man get fucked by a darker skinned woman (as was i), but not even the showrunners could be assed about the romance between their only plus-sized character and a Bridgerton. We spent more time building up Francesca's relationship with Kilmartin over penting up Peneolope's romance - her feelings of tragedy, hopelessness. Peneolope has always been overlooked and truly believed that was her fate forever - even nearly agreeing to a marriage that would literally leave her ignored for years on end - and that was the central tension of the season. She knows who she is, she knows that she is love-worthy, talented, and intelligent, but will Colin? DOES Colin? Oh, he does, and he randomly decides that mid-way through the season. And then fumbles her so hard to the point of insulting her very character - calling her manipulative and scheming after they slept together - when the true authorship of Whistledown is revealed. There was not enough tension built nor sustained to carry his hatred for his wife during those episodes, and no, a couple shots where he looks at his very hot wife and thinks "damn, she is hot" is enough.

This season we should have seen what his mother told him - that he is incredibly self-sacrificial and puts other people's (his quoted siblings') happiness before him - in action during Pen and his plot to get a suitor. That device could have been both means and method of Colin's realization that Pen was his true match all along by being forced to list her accolades, scrutinize her face and body for physical compliments and inticements in order to hype her up for other suitors and recognizing her intelligence and manner of speak in Whistedown because of their newfound constant proximity instead of having to be told about her authorship and realizing off-screen their similarity (which, I'll mention, has never been demonstrated in all three seasons. As a person who writes very different to how they speak, I understand that there is some grace to be had here, but Penelope's dialogue does not include any Whistledownisms at ALL and there absolutely should be some demonstrable similarities, especially this season.) That's how Colin could have NOTICED her. In all, their romance was extremely fumbled in favor of having "prettier," "skinnker" bodies on screen because the showrunner had no faith in Nicola's verified abilities in being a leading lady in a larger body (which isn't even plus-sized UGH different argument). Pen has been in love with Colin since the Featherington's "moved in next door" - where was any of that? We learn more about Kate Sharma's childhood in her season than we do about Polin's, the season where its plot important. No flashbacks, no reminescing, no reasons given why Pen even liked Colin in the first place (could he have done something for her, perhaps noticing her in some character-important way, and thats why she developed a crush? No. He's simply a cute guy next door.) We don't even reminisce on Colin's recent worldly travels that, at the start of the season, have completely transformed him into a lady's man or taught him how to assume that character-type. We don't see Pen's life without him to contrast with her life with him back, but different. We don't see the strain on Colin trying to hold up this facade of being a confident womanizer, nor do we see any consequence of his womanizing, just distant shots of jealous Pen. Why be different, why be different now, what shaped and taught his transformation? Did he think of Pen when he was gone? All important questions that would've better characterized him.

Colin magically realizes he's been tortured for a few days seeing Pen talk with Debling a few times (who is completely forgotten about in Pt 2 holy shit I totally forgot about him), then is so mean to her realizing she's Whistledown, then magically falls in love with her again, and then oop- there's babies. Which i guess wasn't a surprise, but rubbed me the wrong way as neither of Polin has talked about wanting kids at all. In all other seasons, we see our pair demonstrate their abilities as viscountess or duchess, and we see them discuss the importance of having children plus an understanding of what it's like being parents. We didn't get any of that from Polin and seeing them suddenly thrust into parenthood was a shock to their characterization. They're love story is allowed to be juvenile, girl-/boy-next-door fantasizing, and rushing past Penelope's pregnancy and their transformation into parents was needless, leaving more questions than answers.

Mondriches

Why, the hell, was the Mondrich's selling their bar so goddamn important to this season?? This show is called Bridgerton, about the Bridgertons, but we have sacrificed necessary screen time on Colin Bridgerton's characterization and romance with Pen for filler than ultimately means nothing! He sells the bar anyway! This show was billed on meaningful representation of its diverse cast. You can't just make a nothing burger conflict about if this Black family suddenly thrust into being titled when the husband is weirdly attached to a bar where he serves whisky to his majority white clientelle. A Black family suddenly needing to learn the rules and decorum of the nobility is an interesting storyline in the world of Bridgerton, which characterizes itself has post-racial. Learning all the minute rules of etiquette is crafted to be impossible to an outsider, so how does this family of outsiders learn it? Where is the conflict that their inheritance rests on their child becoming the legal head of the family? There is so much to be explored here. In this concept rests a meaningful and emotionally convincing plot, but all we got was "Dude you need to sell your bar." "But I don't wanna! ............... I sold my bar." If youre going to waste screen time on one of the very few depictions of a plus-size character finding love that doesn't center her weight in its conflict, at least make it not so fucking boring.

Michaela Stirling and Francesca

And finally. Here we get to Michaela Sterling, who, based on the audience reaction, came on screen, showed her whole vag, killed beloved character Michael Sterling with a chainsaw, and hypnotized innocent Francesca Bridgerton in lesbianism. Good God people. Get a grip.

As a person not in the fandom, I have never seen this level of disgust and anguish over an adaptational change than to the introduction of Michaela Stirling. To anyone who hates this change and loves Mr. "Im going to tie you to the bed until you get pregnant": you already have that. No one is taking the books away from you. But a television adaptation of the books is not FOR you, it's for a whole new audience that pays homage to the original readership. If you cannot handle this change, stop watching.

To all of the television viewers who make a monolith of this outcry, accusing all nay-sayers of homophobia: get a grip. It is indeed emotionally difficult to see your beloved books get a poor adaptation or when screen adapters make changes that you see will make the narrative weaker. Literally every fandom that has had an adaptation has acted this way once or twice. And readers make some important concerns for the impending narrative! By introducing Michaela right after an entire season of this slow, easy, quiet romance between Francesca and John, the show has retroactively trashed every time that Fran has assured her family that she is truly in love with her now-husband (a fact that is important when that said husband is to be lost in the coming seasons). Fran and Stirling were demonstrating a real, true love that differed from the steamy, bodice-ripping lust the concept of Bridgerton was founded on. Their love was, may I remind you, incredibly popular to neurodivergent viewers who saw many traits of ND represented in Fran's character and her relationship with John. Her constant conflict with her mother and the queen who doubted that their love was valid because it did not behave in the same sensual way theirs had and then Violet's eventual approval of their relationship is important representation for love not based on lust and sexuality but on shared psychologies and interests. So far in Bridgerton, it has been illustrated that the only correct and long-lasting type of marriage is one based in wanting to fuck the pants off your partner; JoFran complicates this narrative. By then introducing Michaela and having Fran stutter over her words in compliance to Violet's memory of "forgetting the most familiar of words" when meeting her husband completely erases everything JoFran fought for and meant. "Wait, on second though, everything that these two characters stood for was in fact wrong and being so horned up that you forget your name is the only true start to a fulfilling relationship." This alludes to an eventuality that Fran's personality will be altered even more, that more parts of Francesca are indeed wrong and need to be changed for her to live a fulfilling marriage. (Yes, I understand that this has not happened yet, but the complete reversal of her relationship that she championed for an entire season makes one wary that even more is on the horizon). Further, Francesca's narrative is centralized around grief. How can that be actualized in the show if she falls out of love with her husband before her marriage night, when she's already lusting after her cousin by marriage? The Micheala introduction as it is in season 3 completely rewrites Francesca's character in the show and foreboding for an even greater change in seasons to come. There is an in-narrative issue with Michaela that is not reducible to homophobia but a genuine concern for the narrative.

Secondly, I have seen some people state that miffed viewers are upset about Francesca's bisexuality but not Eloise's implied lesbianism because they were comforted by Eloise's adherence to gay stereotypes, such as her "militant" feminism, her "not-like-other-girls" black sheepism, her hatred and disgust of men and the institution of marriage, and her constant, deep, near-homoerotic relationships with women. Francesca, in contrast, is princessly, beautiful in the same manner as Daphne, modest and sexually inhibited, concerned with feminine pursuits including marriage, and has not expressed an interest in women until her introduction to Michaela. To these people I say this: stop giving television showrunners so much grace. Michaela's introduction was meant as a shock to the audience. It was not meant to retroactively construct Francesca as a bisexual, locked in a tower of heterosexuality. It was meant to drum up just as much media buzz as it has. It is a hook for the next season meant to draw in new viewers - a queer audience scrounging for representation in the carpet hairs - and their run-of-the-mill audience member who pointed at their TV, exclaimed WHAT!?, and who is now hooked to discover how this new plotline will play out in the next season. It will keep their audience curious for however many years it takes for B4 to come out. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you were not surprised by Fran's sudden bisexuality. There is a reason that Eloise's stereotypicality is shorthand for gay, and the fact that Benedict and now Fran have been confirmed as bisexual if not homosexual lessens the probability that Eloise's narrative will be queered. Bridgerton creators do not care about true representation, they care about providing for a wide enough audience. That's why we only got canon queer characters (and queer sex) until the end of s3 - when people were already hooked. But they can only include so much before people are turned away. Think to yourself, why has there been no main dark-skinned, or truly plus-sized, or blemished, or disabled, or asexual, or poor, or effiminate man, or butch woman, or trans* love interest? It's because diversity and representation have limits.

Queer people deserve good representation, and we deserve for that representation to be narratively treated well. We do not deserve shock marketing or the ruining of hard built plot and characterization so that creators can win Diversity Bingo. (Likewise, this goes for racial diversity as well).

Forgotten Cressida

And lastly, and most shortly, what the fuck did they do with poor Cressida. I have never been more let down by the show than how they villanized, then sympathized with, and then shipped off Cressida to a doom of her worst nightmares when her storyline could have genuinely be salvaged by inhabiting the Whistledown role - being an outcast, but a respected one that is still flits about society - or by allying herself more with Eloise and leaning on her for support. But no. She is forgotten by society, by her family, and the only person she has ever called a friend, who was in the perfect position to be a queer provider for her. That shit hurted.

[archon-maenad]

yknow I wrote out this whole post explaining why I don't often consume original media of what I post about and how worm isn't an outlier there, in a lot of unnecessary detail, and then realized I was just dancing around the point.

I am literally just not fucking emotionally strong enough to read worm. I am a lil bitch who cannot imagine actually having to follow in detail step-by-step the tragedy of taylor hebert.

but the problem is that I really want to read worm! because being on wormblr instead of just reading fanfic has like. shown me how deficient I am with the actual characters. I can write for hours about earth bet cultural trauma but when it comes to people I'd have so little if I wasn't consuming snippets and learning about smaller canonical moments via posts.

and I want to change that. I want to write actual literary analysis on worm as a story, not just worm as a world. but all my posts of the former can't match up to mine of the latter because I haven't read the source material!

so like. I should read worm on principle. I want to read worm. and I literally don't think I am emotionally sturdy enough to force myself to do it.

maybe I can start by just reading every chapter bonesaw is in or referenced. that way I can learn and write more about my favorite girl in a way that doubles as exposure therapy to the story.

(the fact this sounds viable says so much about all the ways my brain is broken lol)

[joelswritingmistress]

Last Halloween: Chapter 3

Summary: After a tragedy involving Joel happened on Halloween one year prior, the town now shuns him while ignoring the details of the now closed case. You are seemingly the only one to offer empathy to a man the town is making out to be a monster.

Warning: Angst, mild language

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

"He's coming?" Your friend Jessie asked, practically letting her jaw drop to the floor as she adjusted her cowboy hat in the mirror.

"Shh." You put a finger to your lips and pulled on a pair of black spandex for your cat costume. "I don't want to tell Winnie or Chris." You knew they would give you a hard time, but Jessie was a little more open minded.

"Okay, okay." She pretended to zip her lip. "I won't say anything."

"Thank you." You tossed on a black shirt with lacy sleeves before grabbing the cat mask. After Jessie checked herself out once more in the bathroom mirror, you reached for your keys. "Let's boogie," you whispered.

The ride over was focused on Joel talk, and you didn't particularly mind. You were kind of itching to talk about him.

"Are you into him?" Jessie asked.

You weren't a good liar so you were honest, despite the potential backlash. After that motorcycle ride it was like a switch had been flipped inside of you.

"Yeah. I mean, I think so."

"Wow." She giggled, "It's so.. random. Not judging. I just.. wow. Why?"

"Why?" You shrugged as you drove. "He gave me a ride on his motorcycle earlier and-"

"Wait, what?" She grabbed your forearm without even realizing it.

You laughed. "We rode around town and then he drove me back to pick up my car at the junkyard. That's why I was so late getting home."

"How old is he?"

"I'm not sure."

"He's a least ten years older than us. Probably more."

You shrugged again. "I'm just feeling things out. I really just want him to have a friend." You turned to look at Jessie for a quick second. "Ya know?"

"Oh, I know." She chuckled. "A friend with benefits."

You laughed and swatted at her. "Cut it out."

"Just let me know what color bridesmaid dress I should wear."

You rolled your eyes with a grin and the two of you had another laugh.

The sign for the tavern came into view by the road side and you pulled into the parking lot, allowing your car to merge in with all the others. You both reached for your purses in the back seat and then headed toward the door that led inside.

On your walk up you heard someone call out your name and turned to see the man in the plastic scarecrow mask. Joel. Seeing him there alleviated any anxiety that lingered on the chance of him not showing up. He *had* showed up, and you knew how big of a step that was for him.

"Hey!" You greeted him with a hug and he partially lifted the mask as your roommate began to introduce herself. A moment later, the three of you were walking inside, welcomed by the beat of the old time seasonal song, Midnight Monsters Hop.

"I'm gunna go get a drink," Chrissy shouted, using her thumb to motion toward the bar that was overflowing with ghouls, ghosts and everything in between.

"Okay." You gave a thumbs up and looked to Joel. "Want a drink?"

He nodded, "Yeah, sure."

You reached back behind you for his hand and felt that similar electricity from before when he took it.

Up at the bar you flagged down the bartender.

"I'll do a vodka soda and.."

"A Bud Lite," Joel added, reaching into his wallet. Like his habit at the coffee shop, he paid with cash despite your attempts to try to pay for the round.

You looked at one another and without saying a word, you tapped your glasses together and then took a sip from your drinks. Joel hesitantly lifted his mask partway. You felt so bad for his inability to be free.

When another old Halloween song came on by The Dead Kennedys, you pulled Joel with you into a crowd of people who had begun to dance along to the rock music.

The beat was fast and upbeat. Without thinking you shoved Joel playfully with a grin with one hand to his chest and then closed the gap again and began to dance right next to him.

A moment later he was following your lead. He was having fun. You were having fun. The dim lighting in the bar was intersected by strobes of oranges, greens and purples, highlighting your every move.

When Joel really began to relax you could see it in his body language. He was dancing around, grabbing your hand to twirl you and being less cautious about lifting his mask to take a sip from his beer.

The rock music never seemed to let up. You needed a break from dancing as sweat began to make your face glisten. You eyed an old photobooth in the back corner of the bar and reached for Joel's free hand again, towing him with you.

When you pushed your way through a pale, white curtain you pulled him down into a seated position beside you and inserted a five dollar bill into the money slot beneath the camera screen.

With the first 3-2-1 countdown on the screen, you both kept your masks on and you stuck out your tongue. For the second photo, Joel lifted his mask so it sat on the top of his head and he managed a half smile. For picture number three, Jessie came out of nowhere, leaping into the booth for a photobomb and then exiting just as quickly.

You were laughing. Joel was laughing. You were both genuinely enjoying the night. Seconds later, the pictures developed and you took a copy while handing one over to Joel.

He kept his mask up as you pulled him back out into the bar where you resumed dancing. The energy was fiery. You loved every minute of it. More so, you loved seeing Joel at ease and having fun. Prior to recently you had never even seen him smile.

That night, in the freaky, flashing strobe lights, things felt perfect - as perfect as they had felt on the back of Joel's bike a few hours earlier. You knew this was manifesting into one of those nights - the type of night you looked back on that was on the border of magical, at least the type of magical that existed in real life.

It was everything. The music, the lighting, the look on Joel's face as his eyes found yours and never left. You were two giddy children that night and it felt so damn good. Never in a million years did you think you'd be able to get him out of his shell.

A break in the song left the two of you breathing heavy with smiles.

"Want another drink?" He shouted.

"Sure." You smiled, and a ringing stuck in your ears with the brief absence of loud music. The next song quickly picked up and Joel smiled, squeezed your hand and then made his way through the crowd.

"Another round, please," you heard him order.

Your eyes were on him as he stood there by the bar. You still smiled. He was contagious; perhaps the definition of a diamond in the rough. Joel Miller was.. dreamy.

"Hey killer." A voice interrupted your temporary euphoria. It wasn't directed at you. It was directed at Joel. Your daydream was suddenly interrupted when you saw a man approach him as he waited for your drinks. "You're in here dancing and having a good time. Where's Johnny? Hmm?" The guy shoved him now and you ran to Joel's defense.

"Enough!" The bartender scolded but the guy went on.

"You kill a local legend and you think you can just move on?" The guy shouted.

"Stop!" You intervened, standing with Joel as others began to turn in your direction.

"Oh, you even got a girl, that's great," mocked the stranger. "You know what Johnny's girl does on and off every week? She cries. Because you killed him!"

Joel tossed a twenty on the bar, left the drinks and stormed out of the establishment. You chased after him, bursting outside and shouted his name when a car whizzed by and almost hit him on the Main Street road.

"Joel!" You shouted and hurried the rest of the way to him. "Joel, stop!"

"I can't do this!" He shouted, "You just don't get it!"

"I know." You shook your head. "Joel, I'm sorry."

"I'm not your little fucking project," Joel went on.

"I know that, Joel." You shook your head, feeling the first sting of tears in your eyes. "I just.. I like you. I was having fun with you."

"I don't belong here. Not in this town. Not anymore! Nothing is going to change that."

"It's not fair," you went on, "I know-"

"You don't know anything!" He waved his hands wildly to the sides. "You don't know how I feel every single day."

"I know I don't," you agreed, "But I want to be here for you. I want to help you. Be your friend."

"What and relive this shit show of a night almost daily with me?" He made a face and shook his head.

"This night hasn't been a shit show," you argued. "Up until two seconds ago this was one of the enjoyable nights I can remember. It started back at the junk yard and on the bike-"

"Well, I'm glad I could give you a thrill ride," Joel said in a snarky fashion that cut you a little deep.

"Joel.." you shook your head. "I enjoy your company." You extended both of your arms in his direction with your palms up.

He looked at them but distanced himself further back a few steps. "Just.. go back to your normal life and stay away from me."

He scoffed turned away from you, storming off into the darkness as you still held your arms out in front of you. Despite having just formally met him, a single tear left each of your eyes.

"Joel!" You called. "Joel, please.."

He didn't turn back around. It broke off a piece of your heart when he disappeared around the corner of the building without so much as looking back.

CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 4

@untamedheart81 @amy172

[rikan-oo]

So I was thinking about creating a loose list of recs for ORV fans or, in other words, "If you liked ORV, you also may like this." I decided to add things less obvious because I think people already read works like Trash of Count's Family, etc.

Princess Tutu

“The beginning of a story is a sudden event; the start, a happy accident, the end, the fate for which it's meant. A story that never ends is a sad fate.”

Let's start with Princess Tutu (PT), anime, not manga because they're different. I watched it about a week before ORV and after finishing both, I can't help but notice their similarities. However, meanwhile, ORV is about the relationship between the reader, the author, and the protagonist, and PT is more about the relationship between the author and their creation: the story and its characters. Don't let the name fool you, don't be like me. It's much darker than I expected from this style and genre. Be ready for angst.

Plot: Ahiru is a small duck in a pond. One day she notices a dancing boy with a very sad gaze. Boy every day goes to dance near the pond and the little duck is completely mesmerized by him. She can't help but notice sadness and loneliness in his dance. She wants to make this boy smile and at that moment a writer Droselmeir appears. He tells her that she could do this by collecting shards of his broken heart but under some conditions. He gives her a magic pendant that can transform her, first into an ordinary human girl, then into the graceful ballerina Princess Tutu, a fictional character from the tale that was doomed for tragedy in the original story.

Later we find out that this city is kinda enchanted by Droselmeir's tale (reverse isekai before it became mainstream) and some characters broke out of the tale like the boy by the lake - Mytho or Raven - the villain of this tale. Tale elements blend interestingly in the city and its residents.

Also, I have no idea wtf is happening with the main characters' dynamic in this complicated rectangle, but there is no straight explanation for this.

I can't help but see some parallels between Mytho - KDJ, Fakir - both YJH & HSY, Ru - HSY, and Droselmeir - Dokkaebi. I love how the story describes characters doomed by narrative and the struggles of being a writer. Also, all of these subtle references to fairytales at the beginning of the episode? Love it. I bet there are more references for the ballet part, but I probably didn't get it. I gently encourage you to check it out. (Definitely not gently, I'm as desperate as Kim Dokja trying to advertise TWSA to other people)

“May those who accept their fate be granted Happiness, may those who defy their fate be granted Glory.”

Miss not Sidekick

It's a much simpler read, just to chill and have fun while laughing at Mc shenanigans. Plot: Typical isekai story, where Mc is a fan of the internet novel of the reverse harem genre. When isekaied decided to invent popcorn and enjoy full time 4d immersion in the story.

There are not so many similarities in themes like with Princess Tutu, but more the role of MC – Latte as reader. I liked how she continued to behave like a spectator of a story inside Isekai world, treating it like she's inside a special 4D theater, not existing in this world as a part of it, until she couldn't.

Until her 4th wall is shattered (*badabums* it's a bad pun, she doesn't have it like kdj) and she realizes she could actually die, (quite shocking I know). Also, MC invents BL for this world and converts other people into it. Overall, the art style is different from other isekai romfant and it's something you need time to get used to, but after a while, you understand it suits perfectly for the narrative and silly tone of the comic.

Inso's Law or My Life as an Internet Novel

I feel like it's more reverse isekai similar to orv, where the story becomes part of your life. But if in KDJ's case, this transition is obvious and life-crashing, then in MC's situation is really creepy. It blends seamlessly into her regular life making her feel insane because everything remains the same except having a whole new friend who behaves like your bestie and a different school, where everything starts to feel like a romantic novel full of clichés. MC like KDJ is also unreliable in her perception of others here and thinks her knowledge of clichés like a reader-outsider makes her more omnipotent than she really is. Too bad they used 3 person POV, so it's really obvious, but funny nevertheless. (One of the cases where she thinks one of her classmates is a girl pretending to be a boy cause of some kind of cliché family drama, when in fact it's just a boy and I find it funny how this classmate looks like Jang Hayoung twin and have similar fate, poor souls) guess she also has similarities in her character to pre-scenario or regular life KDJ. They both seem to have this introverted avoidance type of personality. I'm curious about supernatural events happening in manhwa and I hope we'll get some explanation for it.

Pandora Hearts

Nice little thing with funny and cute tea parties that everyone would enjoy. 😍

SHHH, nothing about the plot. Let it be a small surprise for you.

It's all vibes and similar tropes now, folks.

Like dynamic between the main trio: Gilbert - Oz - Alice YJH - KDJ - HSY. Also this time loop thing? Daddy issues? Self-sacrifice as a form of love? Ugh. (Also, I need this scene with Oz and Brake "Where in the world are you?" But with KDJ. Maybe I even draw it).

It's all for now, maybe I'll write more. Please share the recs if you have them!

[horizon-verizon]

Lucerys went to Storm’s End to deliver Rhaenyra’s message, he insisted he would bring Borros’ reply to the QUEEN, Lucerys basically died for his mother’s claim and she repays him by trying to make up with his murderers ? That’s sociopathic.

Rhaenyra agreed to send her son as an envoy for the sake of her throne which she apparently doesn’t want and then she begs his murderers for peace ? Why did she let him go then ? Did she sacrifice him ? For what exactly ? She spat into her dead son’s face, she worries about her PR but not her son's sacrifice.

This ask accusing Rhaenrya as being sociopathic is part of why I simply don't emotionally/morally engage at face value (as in these are "real" or well realized character) with this show as much as a lot of other people in the asoiaf fandom do. I do engage as critically (analytically) as I can AND use some scenes as evidence against fandom sexism. The clear misunderstanding and trying to fix characters into roles that don't make sense for their arcs in this story of the Dance undermines too much of the HotD story for me to remain Watsonian about it.

Bec it is not "Rhaenyra" that is sociopathic. It is the sexist writing breeding inconsistency after inconsistency for the character as well as the entire list of circumstances--how kinslaying seems no big deal and how it seems no big deal that Aemond commits this taboo and thus removing a critical layer to why the blacks go to war to answer such a tragedy (this layer that is already on top of how they usurped her).

Though she'd be a valid character if she had been adapted/created for some other appropriate story, FOR THIS ONE and for the relationship she has w/Daemon, she simply doesn't make any sense (the reasoning for war, her kids dying and little response or exploration of that versus her trying to do what Viserys thinks...the guy who ruled pretty poorly, etc.) and is horribly, sexistly written so that they can get as many people--who are not really weighing what the point of her character was in the Dance story or truly care to understand the very basics of misogyny--to like her character. Which itself tells us something abt our world--women over male characters of fiction and perhaps real life need to be morally upright in order for the sexist violence to matter or even be defined as sexist. (Catelyn Stark of ASoIaF is a character who has her flaws but also her valid reasons for how she acts. Margarey of GoT is not sincere to smallfolk, but we can't count her as evil for it. ETC.)

That the motive behind her usurpation and eventual murder was greedy sexism. Then entire reason why Viserys is king is bc of sexism and the Targs succession rules not having been solofoed in terms of which royal has a superseding claim than the other since Aenys and Maegor. Many Targ men actively blocked their female counterparts or children or others' children to strengthen their own claim in the eyes of the Andal-Westerosi descents they were ruling and assimilating into for the ease of said rule.

Therefore yes, the Dance happened bc of misogyny/you can never remain that misogyny played a small role in it happening.

Part of the reason--but not the only reason--she fights for the throne is bc she wants payback for her sons' deaths/punish the greens/not have Luke-Jace die from nothing at all.

This is the same woman who marries Daemon Targaryen bc she is like him in the ferocity, prideful way as well as wanted him for his loyalty and willingness to go that far for her, their family/kids, and her crown. It was actually rather cheap for HotD to portray a Rhaenyra who is conflicted over: some sort of payback for Luke's death thru Blood & Cheese vs the horror of Helaena's grief and pain as a mother herself. A sort of reckoning that she may or may not accept and how far does she actually "accept"? THIS, I argue, would have been far more interesting bc of the layers to it all that reminds me of ebing close to any other Gothic narrative...and this is more of a Gothic couple than they aren't.

This also goes into how the focus of her distrust of him is somehow whether he's trying to rule through her instead of self control. It appears a fine line--bc some might think if she actually cared to follow directions or lead, he wouldn't fly off the handle or go behind their backs or do stuff like "heir for a day", so it has to be him wanting the throne for himself sincerely, and that is all...no love. Again, that is what she was arguing he was trying to do in the actual S2 E2 episode, when she says that he is just trying to use her name to do what he wanted against the Hightowers/Otto/his enemies.

When we have already hashed this bit out AND Rhaenyra (if we say she is very careful and deliberate when it comes to her kids' safety) would not have endangered her 3 boys if it were obviously true Daemon was gunning for them for himself...also, his daughters were marrying those boys so he does have stake in the line even with Jacaerys ruling bc he'd have ruling grandkids through him. So no, it didn't make sense, her concerns.

Not unless we reason that:

this Rhaenyra is simply not the same Rhaenyra as the book canon, and thus her relationship with Daemon simply makes no sense on screen as the writers wrote her/them

we recognize that the writers contradict epi 2, epi 7, epi 8 (all where she obviously understands him and puts trusts him not try to get the throne from/through her or harm her again NOT abt his emotional control) while remembering Daemon suddenly choke her out in epi 10 (which didn't make sense itself bc of those episodes I listed)

*7/14/24* I guess we could argue that Rhaenyra was more trying to address his tendency to leave her when things get too hard by accusing him of cold ambition (as an expression from the fear that he only wants her for power since he didn't bother to help her out at least 2x before, so this is her taking an opportunity to draw him into it and express that fear)...again, this doesn't make much sense when this show has made us believe that they had rather very peaceful and happy and fulfilled days on Dragonstone from S1 E8! This is a pre-marriage argument or at least an argument had either before Rhaenyra proposes to him--thus the argument is her confronting him before she ties herself to him--OR it's had in the first two years when he does something nasty or sus and she confronts him. It's not an argument that one has 6 years after marriage and raising 6 children and seemingly completely satisfied with one's partner WITHOUT HAVING ALREADY WRITTEN MULTIPLE SCENES SHOWING/ESTABLISHING SOMETHING LIKE A MISUNDERSTANDING THAT HOLDS A LOT OF TENSION BETWEEN THEM BEFORE THIS ARGUMENT! It should have been built into to make any modicum of sense. *END*

So yeah, even though I liked the acting and energy of the fight, I didn't care for Rhaenyra's argument w/Daemon. and it isn't actually Rhaenyra nor does their Rhaenyra make any sense, so I don't care to actually engage with this show that much or take it as a serious project. It's their cluster fuck of a character they made to draw in people who can't handle dark or morally questionable female character OR genuinely don't grasp what an unreliable narrator is:

[historicity-was-already-taken]

I want to echo all the nice things people have said about your work, and add one more: I appreciate that your blog offers space to mourn the Holocaust. Not the Holocaust as a metaphor, not the Holocaust as a rhetorical invocation, but the Holocaust in and of itself. It provides a sobering kind of relief. When I was a kid learning about the Holocaust, my classes always showed me Life is Beautiful and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (UGH) and one teacher insisted that she wanted me to understand "how the Jews kicked Hitler's ass!" Which... no. On so many levels. So I admire how your work holds the dialectical truths of mass tragedy and brave resistance. Your scholarship matters, your mental health matters, and I can't wait to read your book next year!

This message is so lovely I was too verklempt to even answer it last night. Thank you, so much, for taking the time to write and send this.

And yes I totally get what you mean. It's not some, as you put it, rhetorical invocation populated by faceless martyrs, but the very real murders of millions of real, flawed, living, breathing humans. I think the rhetorical version, with its ideologies and hagiographies, is easier to swallow.

I hate most Holocaust movies. At least, American ones. They just want so badly for there to be a happy ending and...the Holocaust doesn't have one. [Unnamed legendary Jewish director] optioned the rights to [book similar in scope to mine which came out in the last 4 years] and I'm not even upset, because I don't enjoy that director's gentile-focused quasi-uplifting attempts to depict said events. Hitler said he was going to destroy the majority of European Jewry, and he did. In the space of 12 years he destroyed civilizations, cultures, and languages spanning 1000+ years; more, if you hold him responsible for the ethnic cleansing of MENA Jewish communities post-1948. Nothing uplifting there.

That's why I think I like weird, post-modern, magical realist approaches to Holocaust fiction [see: my boyfriend recently convinced me to watch Jojo Rabbit and Inglorious Basterds]. Telling any of these stories doesn't fit into Western narrative conventions. So make it weird; have the characters dance to David Bowie; make it a Western with subtitles; make the audience wonder if magic or just mundane in the specific context of the story. That's, imo, the only way to capture the sheer unreality of these very real events in fiction. I would LOVE a work of magical realist Holocaust fiction that involves the golem of Prague (if it exists omg tell me!) or something similar. Keeping in mind, of course, that I'm neither a film not a literary scholar. Just, as a historian who took one cultural criticism course in undergrad, those feels the most...right.

And oy your teacher. I feel for her; this is a difficult subject to teach. But...the Jews didn't kick Hitler's ass. That's the opposite of what happened. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is the most famous instance of organized Jewish resistance to the Holocaust, and those fighters only kicked ass until the Nazis (quickly) realized that they needed reinforcements and flamethrowers because oops these Jews came prepared. And even the fighters themselves knew that they weren't going to "win" anything. They were making a symbolic historical gesture/statement and fully expected to die. To the point that survivors almost uniformly express in their memoirs and testimonies that the ones who died fighting were the only real heroes and they rest of them are nbd, and this isn't something that should be talked about (which, is something that I'm trying to respect in my book! Like the fact that Zivia Lubetkin utterly rejected any attempt to describe her as a hero matters, even though that's how I personally view her).

Anyway I've rambled enough. Thank you again for the message!

[chaikachi]

Rosegarden, Cinderella, and Fairytale Romance

0r Why I Will Eat My Glass Slipper if Oscar and Ruby Don't Dance by the End of the Show

-

Part of Ruby's arc in v9 is realizing that the ideals and dreams she had as a (younger) child are too ambitious and unrealistic. That life, huntresses, herself… they can't be like the fairytales.

It is a very big lesson to learn but, much like all things in RWBY, there is a push for nuance. Weiss and Blake even have called out in show that those storybook morals are too simplistic or black and white. Ruby is overwhelmed and breaking under the weight of her burdens and is being given the opportunity to either keep trudging on until it destroys her, or leave all of it behind.

But what about a secret hidden third option? Can she not leave Ruby Rose behind, not become someone entirely new, but rather… Choose to be the version of Ruby Rose she wants to be on purpose? And not as a result of other people's pressures or expectations that she's internalized for too long?

The point I'm trying to make here is that she can admit that holding herself to the impossible standard of an untouchable hero that always wins in the end isn't sustainable, but still find the intersection of fairytale and reality.

Now how does this tie in to RG? For that, I want to talk about two things:

The other canon romance plots in show

One of Ruby's smaller/more subtle 'allusions'

Of the three other big relationships in the show, each one's confession seems to fall into a very specific 'theme' (I understand I am generalizing/simplifying a bit but bare with me):

Arkos is rooted in tragedy: Pyrrha's death

2. Renora is rooted in reality: A two volume long conflict that ends in them acknowledging their feelings, talking it out, and agreeing to be patient with each other.

3. Bumbleby is rooted in a literal fairytale: A pocket dimension created specifically in the Ever After to push them into smooching (and y'know... confessing)

Rosegarden is currently in the tragedy stage. Constant separation over and over again leading up to Oscar being left in Remnant thinking she's dead and Ruby stuck in the Ever After not knowing how much time is passing back home and if he'll even be there when she gets back.

Reality we've seen for them a lot in how down to earth they are with each other. The constant quiet support. Oscar seeing past the pedestal, past the ideal, straight through to Ruby. Ruby seeing past the merge and seeing him fully as just Oscar.

But how do we tie the fairytale into it when Oscar isn't in Ever After to give them that storybook magic? Well, we go back to the earlier mentioned subtle allusion for Ruby: Cinderella.

NOW I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. "But Chai!! We already have a very clear allusion to that character!!!"

Okay yes, but Ruby is a mirror to Cinder. We've seen it in their arcs as primary antagonists to each other, we've seen it in their costume designs with the parting of their hair and similar colour schemes. Cinder Fall, Ruby Rose (as in to rise). They are two sides of one coin.

Back at the dance in v2, Ruby arrives and is left alone by her friends. She isn't wearing glass slippers, but there is a whole lot of focus on how uncomfortable her shoes are.

She leaves the dance early after not having fun and runs into Cinder. And when the clock strikes midnight and the spell is broken? Cinder is at the dance in her pretty dress with Mercury and Ruby is back in the tower getting one of, if not the first big reality check(s) of the series.

This situation is teased by Oz in the episode prior with his little conversation with Ruby:

Ozpin: Not enjoying yourself? Ruby: Oh, no aha, everything's fine. I'm just not much of a... dance-y pantsy... dance-y girl. Ozpin: Well you can't spend your entire life on the battlefield, even if you may want to. Ruby: Yeah that lesson's been floating around a lot lately. Ozpin: If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked. Heh, although one wrong room on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot. Ruby:Or a twisted ankle Ozpin: It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds. But it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget.

He teases that the dance is special. That Ruby should get to enjoy it because life has a funny way of creeping up quickly on these things. That these moments are rare and should be treasured... and he's proven right almost immediately.

Every other person in the cast got a dance - or something close to it - that night. Blake and Yang. Blake and Sun. Weiss lost her date 'cause Neptune's a goof, but they still got to sit down and talk. Jaune and Pyrrha had a moment on the balcony before he went to grab a dress and they all danced together. Ren and Nora. Penny even danced with one of her guards. Glynda and Ironwood too!!

But our hero didn't get one. All she got was a fight.

And see, this is where I think the 'fairytale' comes in. Ruby's had her reality check. Time and time and time again that fairytale spell has been broken. She is going through a metamorphosis throughout v9 to become a newly actualized version of herself, or at least find the start of the path that brings her there. But when she returns to Remnant what is waiting for her? More war. More fighting. More responsibility as being this symbol of hope and a leader for everyone. But part of her arc is learning to share her burdens with others. And the person that has consistently tried to do that with her without her asking for it, has been Oscar. Oscar, who is currently in Vacuo with who knows how much time passing wrestling with the knowledge that Ruby, the rest of her team, and Jaune are very likely dead. Oscar, who is now bearing the weight of this world saving mission without her there.

All I'm trying to say is that a celebration of sorts with a redemption dance, quite possibly in Vacuo, isn't entirely off the table. In fact I'd argue it's been teased since the very start, especially considering just how often they are posed as if they are asking each other to dance.

Also to go back to something Ozpin said "fighting and dancing aren't so different"... One of Oscar and Ruby's first scenes together, they are sparring in front of a sunset and they can't stop smiling at each other. They're just having so much fun with it.

Also their premiere moments in volumes 6, 7, and 9 are all RG in a fight of some kind. The first two Ruby is saving him from Grimm. The latter Ruby is being attacked by Neo's illusion of him. In volume 8, we don't get that. But we do get these two moments which also count for something (especially because dances and hugs are also quite similar in some ways):

There are going to be very high emotions when RWBYJ return to Remnant and what better way to celebrate that they are still alive than a party (and if not then, then after the war is over... but hopefully not THAT long). Where they can just 'dance and laugh and love… and just live'. Even for just a moment because who knows what the next will bring.

Ruby in v2 wasn't really a dance-y pantsy kind of girl... but post-v9 Ruby? She gets to choose the kind of girl she wants to be. Just the knight? Or maybe the princess too, even just for on day. And I think if anyone is going to offer her a chance to try it out, it's going to be her Little Prince.

-

I love these normal kids with their very normal knees a very normal amount. I love how their respective 'specialness' makes them the perfect match for each other because it means they can be 'normal' together. That is all ty for listening. RG canon okay byeeeeee~

[writingforatwistedworld]

Ahem ahem Feel free to delete if it's forbidden to do this. I swear making you add a rule against this isn't my aim imma just a tinny bit worry that I won't have the chance to ask a continuation for this ask before a long time. But I understand if you don't want this to set a precedent. I wish to continue the player is a Disney princess ask but with different boys this time.

Could I ask how would Malleus/Kalim/Azul react to a player that is the definition of a Disney princess ? Animals flocks to them, they sing and dance, they're sickeningly sweet, pure and naive, and to top it off they're Neige level of beautiful and charming. The whole Disney protagonist™ package, of which everyone know that they should be in RSA.

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, kidnapping, manipulation, religion, unhealthy relationship, hints at war, poison, overall just toxic relationships

Azul Ashengrotto/Kalim Al-Asim/Malleus Draconia-Player is the definition of a Disney princess

First of all, it's bad for his business

Imagine, all kinds of animals in a place that serves food (and I am not talking about beast men)

Not exactly hygienic...

But outside of that?

Sign him up!

You are just so easy to *cough* manipulate *cough* protect

You really are the ideal target for his manipulation

And worst of all?

He doesn’t even realize what he is doing

The second you seem to distance yourself he a internally panicking and asking you “if his company is so unbearable”

And thanks to you being so naive you don't snap at him but rather think that he is nothing else but hurt

Yeah, he is hurt... you “monster”

And don't even get me started about how things go once he witnesses the encouraging side of every single typical “goody two shoes Disney protagonist”

Oh boy, you are stuck

And if he can't manipulate because this has gone on for so long that this has become normal for you and you don't even realize it anymore that something is wrong?

Well it seems like he needs to roll up his sleeves and get to work like the sea witch did

Tho is a world with Alchemy and you can't tell me the judges over there don't have regularly cases in which a family sued someone because their member is the victim of a love potion

I would like to say that we now have two cinnamon rolls but no, we only have one

And it's not the one who is rich... I can already see the luxurious imprisonment...

Ok but there you are, putting some animal which was just walking in the parade he just held (Jamil is about to cry because of the work in that corner over there)

That was when it was even more over for you

Of course everyone knew that the kind Overseer was going to their school but actually meeting them was another thing

But there you are, right under his nose

Oh dear Overseer, how radiant you are!

It is as if he is someone lost in the desert and you are the Oasis he is seeing in the horizon

Yeah, he whipped for you

But that also means you need protection!

As much as wholesome Kalim usual is, he has experienced attempted assassination even from his closest family members so... at least we can somewhat see where he is coming from

Suddenly Jamil isn't only preparing food for the heir of the Scalding Sands but also for someone who is considered holy in some places

(Believe me when I tell you, his hands were shaking when he was putting the salt into the food)

And whoopsy, seems like he has prepared a room too much, do you want to stay

Yeah... you aren't leaving that room is all I can say

But hey, you are probably one of the safest people in their world... at least until the Valley of Thorns hears of this...

Are you seriously asking? Of course this would end in a tragedy (at least for you)

Ok, what do we have? Oh? A dragon and oh? Literally Aurora 2.0??!

Ok so, the first time you two met he would have probably thought that you are Silvers sibling or something by that by seeing that the whole forest is following you

But nah, he is literally in a religion that is about you so that was until you turned around and he saw your face

Cue one of the few times his chin hit the floor

He probably also accidentally slipped out his tail

But ok, you just made the literally fifth most powerful person in this world "a bit too interested" in you, so what?

I'm telling you “so what”, you, my dear friend, are about to be treated in a very luxurious manner

In other words, one kingdom, one room, a ton of followers who are capable of living very long

Nope, no way out, only one way in

But of course you wouldn't just run away from those hopeful eyes, staring with excitement up to you without blinking

Even if you had enough one day and couldn't take it anymore you wouldn't be able to escape

Malleus made sure himself that you can't escape him no matter what

You know that voiceline which says “easier than spinning threat”? He about to repeat what his ancestor did

At least his tail is nice to pet... cool and smooth

But yeah, prepare to sleep a looooong time

[ellieromanov]

Vanilla, Pine, or cinnamon 

Pairings: r x Natasha

Warnings: angst

Word count: 700

Summary: it’s been years since Natasha has made the sacrifice and memories only linger for so long before you start to forget.

I think I miss her more than I remember her. That terrifies me. I don't really remember what she looks like anymore... I know she had red hair and she had green eyes, but I don't remember the shape of her nose, or the color of her lips.

I don't remember what her laugh sounds like or the pitch of her voice, or you know... like the little phrases she would say. I can't remember what she smells like. I want to say vanilla but maybe she smelt more like pine or maybe  cinnamon.

I kept all her clothes. I never wanted to wash them because I was afraid it would get rid of her smell so they would just sit in my closet. Sometimes I'd pull out one of her old sweaters and and I'd sleep with it on my pillow just so I could pretend like she was there.

Like it was just one of those gloomy days where we wouldn't get out a bed for ages because the comforter was just so warm and the mattress felt just right and the position of the pillows were perfect. And we'd watch old cheesy 90's movies all day long...

I don't do that anymore because her sweaters lost her sent from all the dust they've collected.

It feels like it's been an eternity since she was last here...

There was something my dad would always say to me and my siblings as kids and it went something like;

"you do not know time until you know how to dance. You don't know time until you know how to paint, compose music and have read Shakespeare. Once you know how to do those things only then can you complain about time."

I think about those words often. Since Nat has been gone I fill my days reading the tragedy's of Shakespeare, sitting at the piano, putting on my old ballet pointés, and most recently, painting.

I've been trying to remember her enough to put her on the canvas. I can't seem to get the correct shade of red for her hair, and I've had to repaint her her nose several times.

But I do remember how much Natasha loved the night sky. All the stars just seemed like magic to her. She also loved... daisies? Or were they tulips? I think they were daisies. So I've painted a field of daisies underneath the night sky with Natasha in the middle of the field.

But no matter how many pictures I have of her to use as a reference, they never captured what she really looked like. They never captured that gorgeous smile she had or the freckles on her nose, or the scars that littered her cheek or the depths of green in her eyes. These are all small things that I remember vaguely.

People don't often visit anymore. Clint and Laura stop by once every few months and Yelena once or twice a year maybe. I haven't heard much from anyone on the team since the funeral besides Peter. He's a good kid. Sends me a message once every few weeks to update me on he's life and he always asks how I'm doing. He keeps me up to date on the outside world.

I so often wish that I could go back to that day and trade places with her. I dream about it sometimes. They are the most vivid dreams I have. When I dream, I get to hear her voice again.  But the longer I think about it the more I realize that it's better this way. Deep down, I know that. I know it's better. Because Natasha will never have to know what it's like to lose her other half, she will never have to experience the pain and grief and suffering that comes with losing me. She will never know what it's like to to forget me. And for that I am grateful.

So as I try to fall asleep tonight I just need to remind myself, it's better this way, and one day... one day I'll be with her again. But until that day i just have to accept the fact that the comforter is never warm anymore, the mattress is like a brick and the pillows are old and torn. I will try to remember her scent so I can go find it, try to make the house feel like home again with it and restore some of that comforter but I don't know if she smelt of vanilla, pine, or cinnamon .

[korkiekenobiconfirmed]

funny enough, I think this scene was the closest the show ever got to realizing the actual point of the Dance.

the throne, was it worth it? it's too late, blood has spilled and the dragons danced and your brother is burnt half to death. peace is long since past but you must see this horrible, bloody thing to its unsatisfying end while you can do nothing more than fight and rue and pray. it was all for a crown, but was it worth it? when the price you pay is everything and everyone and nobody even wins, was it worth it?

miss me with that "only people who don't want a crown deserve one" and "the horrors I have loosed can't just be for a crown blah blah" boooorrrriiiinnngggg. the Dance was about two factions who were SO intent on their own power and SO adamant in their superiority that they ultimately became their demise. almost every character met a horrible fate, even the ones who survived the war! it's a tragedy of epic proportions and everybody's miserable and it can't even be blamed on any one person or death or catalyst. it was so deliciously, horribly unavoidable because targaryens, like their valyrian ancestors before them, cannot stop bringing about their own doom!

[thescarletnargacuga]

LAST RESORT

A TIME CAPSULE AU CAINE SONGFIC

AU credit @mangotangerinepastry @the-amazing-digital-time-capsule

WARNING: HEAVY angst, depression, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, alcohol

~~~

Caine sat at the stage piano alone in the dark of the off hours. An empty liquor bottle slipped from his fingers, clinking to the ground. He drunkenly swayed, his fingers dancing over the keys. Oh how he had desired to play. The off key notes alone gave his soul freedom.

BUBLE harshly yanked on the red strings on Caine's fingers, punishing him for daring to touch the musical instrument. Caine didn't care. He felt nothing, physically or otherwise. He played on, finding his rhythm and losing himself in the music.

Cut my life into pieces

This is my last resort, suffocation, no breathing

Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding

Caine's mind wandered aimlessly amongst his memories. The life that was stolen from him was paved with the blood of enemy and innocence alike. Every decision he made led to loss and tragedy, and he's paid the price ten fold.

This is my last resort

Living was more of a punishment than death could ever be. He has to live with knowing what he's done. The body count could fill a trench. He just wanted to serve. He wanted to protect.

Cut my life into pieces

I've reached my last resort, suffocation, no breathing

Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding

Do you even care if I die bleeding?

He could still hear it. The gunfire. The explosions. The screams. They lied.

Would it be wrong? Would it be right

If I took my life tonight? Chances are that I might

Mutilation out of sight, and I'm contemplating suicide

I'm contemplating suicide

The burning, blistering pain that seared his bones and melted his flesh. He couldn't breathe. But death did not want him.

'Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

Losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

The hospital. The lonely fear of being thrown away. The very pavement of the streets had more empathy.

I am fine

He lost his voice. He lost his identity. Seeking purpose, he worked harder than any other. He was useful.

I never realized I was spread too thin

'Til it was too late, and I was empty within

Feeding on chaos and living in sin

Downward spiral, where do I begin?

Every penny went to drink. To forget. To numb. To pretend he was still in control.

It all started when I lost my mother

No love for myself and no love for another

His family would not take him back. He was no son of theirs. He was a monster. A killer.

To find a love upon a higher level

Finding nothing but questions and devils

He was turned away by all. Shunned by society, only the gutters spoke his name.

'Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

Losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

Then darkness. A prison of cold steel. People out of time. Forced to perform and please.

Nothing is fine

Black cracks split his skin. Eyes of many colors peered out. The consuming darkness within breaking free.

I'm crying, I'm crying

I'm crying, I'm crying

He fell from the piano bench, spralled on the floor. Eyes blank. His limbs twisted and deformed.

I can't go on living this way

I can't go on living this way

He wanted to give in. To forget forever. To be taken by the darkness.

Cut my life into pieces (I can't go on living this way, I can't go on living this way)

Think of the others. Who would he damn to be in his place? Fight. FIGHT!

Cut my life into pieces, yeah (I can't go on living this way, I can't go on living this way)

PULL IT TOGETHER SOLDIER

'Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

Losing my sight, losing my mind

Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine (I can't go on living this way)

With a cry of inner strength, he forced the darkness back.

Nothing is fine (I can't go on living this way)

Caine's limbs normalize. The crawling darkness retreats into the wounds.

I'm running, and I'm crying (I can't go on living this way)

He sobs. He must keep fighting. Protect the others.

I'm running, and I'm crying (I can't go on living this way)

Protect Pomni.

I'm running, and I'm crying (I can't go on living this way)

Suffer for the greater good.

Nothing's alright!!

Caine's screams are forever contained in the time capsule, never to be heard. It continues its journey through time, collecting lost souls to fuel its purpose.

[necarion]

Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone

I've been toying around with a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice (because obviously the world needs more of that) that shakes up the standard dynamic. A rough outline of the plot is as follows. (Original rough outline was like the first 10 bullet points. This got away from me. I am not sure whether this is webnovel, webcomic, or series of musicals)

Basic setup is the same. Eurydice dies on her wedding day and ends up in Hades. Orpheus bends heaven and Earth to make his way down to rescue her.

In the meantime, Eurydice has ended up befriending both Hades and Persephone, because she's a [insert cool talent not typically in the original, maybe dancing?] in her own right. She and Hades get along well, but Persephone starts crushing hard on Eurydice.

Then Orpheus shows up, having musicked the shit out of Charon, Cerberus, the River Styx, the band Styx, the entire Elysian fields, etc. Dude is a rockstar, I mean to say.

He does his whole shtick to get Eurydice back, and ends up really appealing to Hades (and somehow getting Persephone's back up). And shortly, Persephone realizes that Hades is starting to crush hard on Orpheus.

Ultimately, Persephone is the one who conceives of the whole "don't look back" test, but making Hades suggest it. She then plants doubt in Orpheus's mind, etc.

Orpheus looks back, the tragedy happens, etc.

Hades was sure Orpheus was going to make it, and ends up really depressed because he thinks it was because Orpheus didn't trust his wife (sad) and also him (sadder, because he'll be back one day).

Persephone initially exalts in her victory, until she sees how depressed both Hades and Eurydice are and realizes she's been a massive manipulative bitch this whole time.* [Note: I originally didn't like this idea, but became more comfortable when I realized how much it turns on its head the annoying "innocent Persephone" thing. Let someone else be the bad guy for a while. And then got even more cool when I realized what would come next]

When Persephone's mandated 6 months in the underworld end, she goes back up to stay with Demeter. She broods the whole time, and then hatches a plan: when it's time to return to Hades, she goes AWOL and stays in the Overworld to go track down Orpheus.

You get some of Orpheus's story afterward. He's depressed, hanging out with Jason and the Argonauts, etc. Jason is kind of a douchebro and they butt heads a lot, but you get some bonding with Atalanta, Asclepius, and Hercules. Persephone is slowly catching up. She finally runs into them at the island of the Sirens but Orpheus is playing too loudly to hear and Odysseus Jason doesn't believe that they're actually trying to get Orpheus's attention.

Shit starts to go down after about a month when Persephone hasn't returned to Hades (there's a bit of flexibility here after centuries. Persephone told Demeter she'd be going early and Hades that she'd be going late). Hades and Demeter both realize she's gone missing and end up putting some of their past behind them to track her down. They both love the shit out of Persephone in their own way and cannot stand her being hurt. Even if they're both super pissed at her for their own reasons. Hades has figured out that Persephone was behind breaking up Orpheus and Eurydice (guy is kind of cold-seeming / autistic-coded, but he's smart and he talked to Eurydice a lot. Plus there are some legendary figures down there who are not idiots about people), and while Demeter is a tad overprotective at times, this is a woman who threatened to destroy the entire world if Zeus wouldn't get her her daughter back.

So, you've got Persephone tracking down Orpheus and Odysseus, crashing with various legendary figures (including Iris for a while, because why not have an episode of Rainbow Surfing?), and increasingly hiding, trying to avoid the Buddy Cop / Sibling Car Trip Clusterfuck that is Demeter and Hades trying to find Persephone.

Persephone finally catches up to Orpheus, still depressed and hanging around with Jason, at around the time Jason dumps Medea. Just in time, he and Persephone manage to convince Medea that killing her children is not the answer (Persephone was friends with Media back in the day). Persephone will take them to Demeter if Medea really can't handle it (don't worry. Badass sorceress Medea makes a great mom eventually). But while Medea knows why Persephone has been hiding from her mom and husband, and is smart enough to figure out that Persephone is trying to right a wrong, Medea is also fucking pissed at Jason, so extorts the other two into helping her get some sweet, sweet revenge on Jason.

[Revenge plot. Not sure what happens here and care a lot less. Presumably new GF dumps Jason, who ends up forced to join the Trojan war, where he's just fundamentally not as cool as everyone else running around at the time. Basically, crush the man's ego.]

Somewhere in here, Demeter and Hades realize they're just not thinking on the right level and go back to the underworld and grab Eurydice, who's been getting super bored. [Possible minor subplot of her organizing a [talent, maybe dancing?] troupe among the denizens of Hades?]

Eurydice's job is not easy, because one of Hades' and Demeter's first ruses was "hey, we've got Eurydice, come see".

[Why are the two still running? Probably need some MacGuffin in here about Orpheus needing some item to be able to return to the underworld at-will, and if they're caught, Persephone's ability to help will be restrained, and Hades will only be able to offer death, in keeping with his nature.]

Eurydice wises up to this as well, and so starts to buy time for the two. She uses her [talent troupe] to gather intel and delay. Hades does start to notice (dude isn't dumb) but is still constrained by his own rules. He plays along as much as he's able, and Demeter does her own work trying to help get the MacGuffin for Orpheus. Just as Orpheus (with Persephone) ends up inheriting the Argonauts from Jason, Eurydice ends up inheriting the Muses.

The whole crew meets up, right around the time Zeus finally notices that WTF everything is out of whack. Seasons are messed up, Fate isn't working right, Irony is Dead, etc. It takes a really long time because Zeus is a bit of a doofus.

[Need some sort of final boss battle of the various Greek Gods, mythological figures, etc. Orpheus, Eurydice, Persephone, Hades, Demeter, and respective teams have gotten a lot of friends around Greece. The other Gods kind of want the status quo and peace and quiet back.

This boss fight will be a clusterfuck, but also needs to end out well when people start talking, and Zeus ends up browbeaten by his sister Demeter again.]

Everyone is absolutely exhausted, but victorious. Conditions of the ending: Eurydice is still dead but has a 182 day-per-year at-will pass, to hang out on Earth. Orpheus is still alive, but has a 182 day-per-year pass to hang out in Hades. Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, and Eurydice spend a lot of time together, of course. But the four of them also get to have their own pairwise time by splitting things up.

Orpheus, Eurydice, and the Muses establish the Demetreum, a major center for the arts and sciences (they're not idiots and dedicate it to Demeter whose help made all this possible). It has rooms for a rotating cast of heroes, artists, philosophers, and even gods. A bunch of the Argonauts and Medea live there full-time making sure stuff doesn't get fucked up. There are so many tragic characters hanging around that they're able to provide checks on each other through regular group therapy sessions. [Nobody has the exact same tragic flaw]. (Yes, the Fates need to get bought out somehow).

Exit on the Best Performance Ever, as Eurydice's [troup of talented people, probably dancers?] collaborates with the Muses and Orpheus composing the greatest possible music. Giant final number.

The End

[bookish-karina]

OC Questionnaire Tag

thank you so much for tagging me @wyked-ao3 , @katenewmanwrites , @willtheweaver , @drchenquill , @paeliae-occasionally ,

@a-cosmic-elf , @gioiaalbanoart

I'll answer these for Maeve from Your Average Fangirl :)

my questions:

1. have you ever wanted to stab someone?

Definitely, I mean, you can't expect someone not to get irritated to the point of imagining the other person's death... right?

2. what's your worst memory?

unsure...

3. what are you hoping to avoid?

Being the center of attention. It terrifies me because I always worry about what others think of me. It's also something I'm working on.

4. do you believe your biggest dream is attainable?

I believe almost anything is attainable if you're willing to put in the work for it.

5. if you could erase any memory, what would you choose to forget?

unsure...

6. what do you see/feel when you look in the mirror?

I see someone who's scared to be herself because she'd rather be likable than her own person.

7. how do you think others perceive you?

I think others perceive me as timid, if not quite shy to begin with. I tend to hide in the shadows, so it's easy for others to believe that I'm truly outspoken. However, once they get to know me, they realize I'm my own person and am full of ideas and opinions at times.

8. what is one food you will not eat?

I will not eat sushi. I believe all food should be cooked to an extent to be edible and simply don't have the desire to try it.

9. what was the craziest thing you did as a child?

The craziest thing I did as a child was believe I could talk to animals. I would spend all day conversing with any animal I saw and believed that they were responding in some way (tail wags, head shakes, chirps, etc).

10. what is your favorite memory?

My favorite memory is riding on an airplane for the first time. There's something freeing about being so high in the sky.

11. is there an animal you are scared of?

I'm scared of spiders. I'm not sure why, but they just gross me out.

12. if you could choose between being able to sing or dance like a professional, which would you choose and why?

I would choose to sing like a professional, as I've always wondered what it would be like to perform on stage in front of a lot of people.

13. who is your favorite person? why?

I don't think I can pick one! I have many favorite people, but not sure if I could decide my favorite favorite.

14. would you rather say something in 50 words or 200 words?

I would rather say something in 50 words, as I think using a smaller amount of words forces us to be more concise in our explanations.

15. would you rather work outside or inside?

I would rather work outside. I enjoy being in the presence of nature and soaking up the sun rays.

16. if money, time, and space were no object, what would be your dream pet?

my dream pet would be an otter. they're so cute!

17. are there season where you're from? what's your favorite and why?

Yes, there are all four seasons where I’m from! My favorite has to be fall/autumn. I enjoy the coolness of the weather and the colors when the leaves change.

18. when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an artist. I enjoyed drawing but wasn't any good at it.

19. something that you regret?

Letting myself fall in love too quickly.

20. last time you kissed someone?

Romantically? Last year, before my boyfriend broke up with me.

21. favorite animal?

my favorite animal is probably a tie between a snow leopard and a panda!

gently tagging @aintgonnatakethis @romances-not-tragedies @taranorma + an open tag

your questions:

what's your favorite color? why?

if you could only take one person with you to an abandoned island, who would it be?

weapon of choice?

[thevampirearchive]

There’s something I've been meaning to say but I haven't had the words till now. There is something that deeply upsets me about witnessing stories where villains, who are literal killers, fall in love and somehow become good or act outside of what is expected from them. I love love, love is beautfiul, it is powerful and it can truly change a lot. But to sit, and write a killer suddenly go "actually, this one can stay because I am in love for the first time" is such a weird concept to me. Is this happening because as a sociaty we're trying to convince ourselves that deeply disturbed people can be cured by the power of love? That if they just find the right person, they would stop the masacer? or at least no longer feel the need to kill how they were or at least let their person live? And I am not mad at the love, I do belive anyone can fall deeply in love, but my issue is with how it ends. I want to witness the unthinkable — I want to see is exactly what we expect but hoped won't happen, happening. A gut wrenching truth that stays true to who we have been witnessing, despite the "I can change them" dance. And perhaps people hate this idea because they want to belive that anyone can change if only they meet the right one, or that we can change the monsters in our lives with affection, but trust most likly is that they cannot be changed. And I can understand that to some this is then seen as an illusion. "oh then this was never true love", why can the two not exist? Do we not hurt those we love? Maybe not kill them, but someone elses hurt could feel like a small death to me, and vice versa.

Examples, so that you are not confused as to what I am reffering too;

Killing Eve; I stopped watching when Villanelle was shown shooting Eve. It felt true to her character, even if it hurt. She is a killer, we knew that and so did Eve. Regardless of her love, that was what was always going to happen so why were we given additional seaons of this fanatsy of a declawed Villanelle?

Hannibal; It should have ended with the death of Will, and possibly Hannibal consuming him. Didn't Hannibal say that the consumption of Will would somehow join them in a deeper way?Something so disturbing that only could make sense to a serial killing-cannibal. And I would have watched with wide eyes, and gone to sleep staring at the ceiling.

Interveiw With The Vampire; Louis' death in the hand of a Lestat would have made sense, and despite his dramatics, Lestat would have not committed suicide but instead burried himself in deep regret untill he was too numb to his own feelings that he could return to the world of the living. He would have never forgotten Louis, nor what he did, but he would have moved on beause Lestat is not a good person. He's deeply disturbed and Louis knew this. I don't even aknoclege that beatdown episode because Lestat may be a killer, but he's a drama queen first and formost. Louis' death would have been poetic, beautiful and grusom like a greek tragedy without an audiance.

Bonus - Twilight; I could not end without adding my own favorite, and despite this path never being teased to the audiance the same way the other's were, I would have loved the book simply ending because Edward did as he said he would - drained Bella like a Caprisun on a hot summer day. Because what is love agaisnt animalistic urgase (I understand why it is much hotter that he is simply so retsrained and devoted that he resists her, but I'd pay good money for an AU)

At the end of it all, I think want I want is for sociaty to get over the idea that a good woman, love or any form of kindness can change who some people are. Love can do many things - look at crimes of passion! And to some extend I belive that these villain's love were true, possibly not the way we imagine them - which is less so "I love you too" and more so, "wow, finally someone I can manipulate and obsess over. Someone who I can mold, someone who is alone in the world like me" only to realize that is not true.

So why do we make love into what it isnt? Even when the scene is set for us to be shown the truth, writers and the audiance always make the plot lean towards whatever fits so that we can have that "happy ending".

Honorable mentions;

God should have killed Lucifer, I know the bible and christianity is not technically fiction for all, but the idea that he is forgivin but lets the biggest meanness HE CREATED terrorize everybody is evil. Take him out or let somebody else do it homie.